Cover garment made from gathered cloth or film



May 26,1953 w. SPEAR 2,639,431

COVER GARMENT MADE FROM GATHERED CLOTH 0R FILM Filed Aug. 25, 1950 Patented May 26, 1953 7 COVER GARMENT MADE FROM GATHERED CLOTH OR FILM Winifred Spear, Flemington, N. J.

Application August 25, 1950, Serial No. 181,497

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-88) 1 This invention relates to cover garments and it is an object of the invention to provide a cover arment that can be worn over other clothes in the nature of an accessory over a basic costume or as an adjunct to a bathing suit to provide more elaborate or formal dress.

If the garment is made of waterrepellant material it can be used to provide protection from rain, and it is another object of the invention to provide a cover garment that is attractiveinappearance and that has more style than garments which have been available for rain protection in the past. The garment can be worn over a skirt as a protection against driving rain that comes under an umbrella, or the garment can be worn as 'a cape over the shoulders, or as a hood with portions of it covering the shoulders and falling to the hip line.

When made of water-proof or water-repellant material, the garment is useful over a wet bathing suit so that the wearer can ride in a car from the beach or pool without getting the upholstery of the car wet. In connection withthe use of the garment as an adjunct to a bathing suit, it transforms the bathing suit into a costume in which the wearer can go into restaurants, stores, and other places where a bathing'suit alone is not permitted or is inappropriate.

When the garment provided by'this invention is worn as a hood or cape, the wearer can obtain full protection from rain by wearing .a second one of the garments over her skirt. The garment is easily put on and conveniently tied when used as an overskirt or when used as a cape'or hood, the same ties being used for all purposes. Another advantage of the invention is that some embodiments can be constructed from a single sheet of material without cutting, and all embodiments of the invention. are of a simple construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

One feature of the invention relates to the location and extent to which the sheet material is gathered near its upper. corners to produce ties at both ends of the top edge of thegarment. Another feature relates to any intermediate-gathering near the center of the top edge to shape the to control not only the hang of the garment but to keep it snug at the waist when worn over a skirt.

Other objects, features and advantages of the .invention will appear or be pointed'out as the specification proceeds.

In the drawing forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Fig. l is a view showing the cover garment of this invention spread out against a fiat surface, and with the outline of the original sheet, from which the garment is made, shown in dotted lines,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail view showing a modified construction for the ties,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, but showing another modified construction.

Fig. 4 shows the garment of this invention worn as a cover over a skirt,

Fig. 5 shows the garment worn as a cape an Fig. 6 shows the way in which the garment ca be worn as a hood. 7

The garment of this invention is from an integral sheet ll] of material which is preferably waterproof or at least water repellent. It is a feature of the preferred embodiment of the invention that it is made from a rectangular sheet. This has the advantage of eliminating a special cutting operation on each side edge of the sheet and it eliminates waste inthe manufacture.

In "describing the sheet as integral, the construction is not limited to a seamless sheet. The garment shown in Fig. 1 has a seam I2 joining two pieces of material, this being necessary when the material used does not come, in the desired Width for making the garment. When a seamed sheet is used, the garment is made with the seam extending generally parallel to the top edge of the garment and near the top edge so that the extra stiffness of the material Where it is double or folded along the seam [2 cannot interfere-with the natural folds in which the garment hangs.

Water-repellent taffeta has been found to be a highly satisfactory material for the garment. Other materials can be used, such as vinyl plastic sheets. The constructions by which the gather zones are held together depend to some extent upon the material used, as will be explained somewhat more fully in connection with Figs. 2 and 3.

This garment is made from a sheet having the original size indicated by the dotted outline of the sheetv I0 and the garment has ties l5 and It at the opposite end of its top edge I1. The tie I6 is made by swinging the right-hand side edge of the original sheet Ill inward and upward from a location indicated by the mark, [8 to another location spaced a short distance below the top edge I! and-at the lower end of a gather zone 2-0. This movement of the side edge of the sheet is made without shifting the upper right hand corner 22 of the sheet and it results in a gathering of a substantial quantity of the material into the zone where adjacent gathers are connected to one another by stitching 24-. This stitching holds the gathers so that they are distributed across a zone that is comparatively thin in a direction normal to the plane of the paper in Fig. 1. This plane will be referred to as the plane of the face of the garment, though actually much of the face of the garment extends out of such a plane because of the gathers in the material.

The stitching 24 is merely representative of fastening means for holding adjacent gathers together with a controlled distribution of the gathers throughout the zone 20. Other fastening means can oe used, such as adhesive or heat sealing of the gathers when made of plastic sheets that can be heat sealed. it has been found that better results are obtained in heat sealing ii the adjacentgathers are not only heat sealed to one another but also to a backing strip 26 shown in Fig. 2 where the material that touches the substantially flat strip 28 is heat sealed to it with the area enclosed by the dotted rectangle.

The expression heat seale is used herein to designate a bond made by heating the surfaces to be joined until they melt together or otherwise acquire from heating the characteristic of re maining integrally united when cooled.

Backing strips can be used across .both the front and rear of the gather zone it when the material is thinand additionalreinforcement is needed to hold the gathers together. A backing strip 218 can he used with the stitching 2d as well as with gather zones having heat of the fathers to one another.

Fig. 3 shows the gathered material in the zone 10 secured to a backing strip it by bothstitching 24- and adhesive 28,.the latter being represented by the heavy lines. Adjacent gathers are secured together by the adhesive "28 in addition bonding of the strip 123' to the gathers that it touches.

The tie I5 is made by swinging the original side edge of the sheet inward and upward from a location 29 :to another location at the lower end of Ia gather zone 39, the construction being similar to that already described for the zone 28 ,:11101 being formed without disturbing the corresponding upper edge corner 32.

ihe gathers of the material in the ties i5 and '16 are not connected with one another and are free tofiare outward decorative ends of cows when the garmehtis being worn and the ties are knotted together. If tiesand gather zones of less dullness are desired, the result is. attained by making :the garment from a sheet having side edges shaped to extend inward for a distance least as far down as the locations it 2%.; or-

the sheet may have its side edges out outin the regions of the locations [8 and 2 9 to produce gather zones 2!} and 39 or less fullness without substantially afiecting the fullness of the ties themselves. in the preferred construction, however, the garment is made from a sheet having straight side edges because this gives a desirable fullness to the gather zones and ties, and elimi hates the additional manufacturing step of shaping the side edges.

When the garment is made of material having both selvage and cut edges, the selvage edge is placed along the bottomof the garment since this leaves the material with a uniform flexibility along and above the bottom edge for most efiec- 4 has out side edges folded over and secured by stitching 34.

In order to have the garment fall in attractive folds in the rear when Worn, the top portion is constructed with a. central gather zone 36 where material from below the top edge is gathered and secured in place in any of the various ways already described for the zone 29, but the amount of material gathered into the zone 36 is preferably less than that gathered into the zones 20 and 30,

In the construction illustrated, the upper edge 38 of the sheet material It is folded over and stitched like the side edges and this folded and stitched upper edge 38 is further folded over to bring it down below the center of the top of the garment. This makes the top edge I! stronger and isespecially useful in garments that are made from sheets having no fold or other reinforce- .ment along the upper edge 38 of the sheet. The

upper edge 38 is shown turned down to the lower end of the central gather zone 35 in the drawing, but the extent to which the upper edge portion is turned down'at the center may be more or less than that shown, and the points from whichit is turned down may be at the corners 22 and32. instead of-at the gather zones 20 and Silas shown Fig. 4 shows the way in which the garment is worr es a coverover a shirt. The wearer puts the top H around her waist and knots the ties l5 and l iS-together at one side. A single knot is sufficient when the garment is made of material that pro vides a fairly high coefficient of friction in the knot. With slippery material, a double knot is used. If the wearer does not want a how; the ends can be tucked in atthe waistso that they are out of sight.

One of the advantages of theinvention is that it fits people of clifier-ent size. If .a wearer has a smaller waist measurement than average, she can knot the ties somewhat beyond the gather zones 28 and -30. The knot can be made any-- where because after the ties been knotted around one another and'pulled together as far as thegather zones they can still be pulled together further because the knot gathers the material as the materialbeyond the gather zones 28 and 3B is pulled into the knot. Since one side edge can be wrapped over the other edge portion of the garment, the garment fits just as well be low the waist on thin people as on heavier ones,

though the drape of the garment is more attested by the knot when worn :by thinner people.

The gather zone at the center region of the top edge portion prevents the garment from bulging in the back and causes it to have the folds that are shown to the left of the ties .over the upper portion of "the skirt.

Fig. 5 shows the garment of invention used as a cape. The center gather zone is located behind the wearers neck and the fullness on both sides of this center gather izone makes the garment drape gracefully over the shoulders and arms, as illustrated. The tics and It are knotted in front, near the waist for the most decorative effect, ibuthighcr up if necessary for better protection-against drivizngrain or snow. The armscan reach .outfrom under the cape below the ties, and one of the side edge portions overlies the other below the waist.

6 shows the way in which the garment is worn as a hood. The center gather zone 35 vjust above the forehead. leaves a fullness behind it that 'efiect shapes the garment to vfit the head,

and the ties l5 and I6 can abelcnotte'd together some distance below the chin. The garment drapes itself over the shoulders, and the edge portions extend inward, one over the other below the knot, somewhat similarly to the effect in Fig. 5. The fullness produced by the gather zones at the inner ends of the ties l and I6 produces the folds over the arms, shown in both Fig. 5 and Fig. 6.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cover garment comprising an integral sheet of material having end ties made from gathered material of opposite upper corners of the sheet, means holding the gathers at the inner end of each tie permanently secured together in a predetermined relation along a short transverse zone adjacent to the top of the garment and at a substantial distance back from the upper corners of the material to leave the gathers of the ties free, and other gathers at a third zone adjacent to the top of the garment and intermediate the zones at the ends of the ties, means holding said other gathers permanently secured together in a predetermined relation at said third zone but spaced from the zones at the ends of the ties by portions of the material in which the gathers from the zones fall away into draped folds dependent upon the contour imparted to the top edge of the garment, the vertical extent of the sheet that is permanently secured in gathers in the third zone being substantially less than that permanently secured in gathers in the zones at the ends of the ties.

2. A cover garment for rain or beachwear comprising an integral sheet of waterproof material having a tie portion at each end of its top edge; each tie portion being made of gathered material extending from a zone at which a portion of the side edge of the sheet some distance below the top edge is swung inward to a position just below the top edge with a substantial quantity of material gathered between it and the top edge, means permanently securing the gathers of material together with the gathers in predetermined relation to one another in a zone that is spaced from the nearer top side corner of the sheet by a distance less than the distance below the top edge at which said portion of the side edge is swung inward to said zone, the gathered material of the tie portions being free to shift the gathers into various relations beyond the means that secure the gathers at said zones.

3. A cover garment for rain or beachwear made from a single rectangular sheet of rainproof material, said garment having a top edge alon which there are located three gather zones, said zones including a central zone intermediate the ends of the top edge and having material of the sheet gathered upward toward the mid region of the top edge and means permanently securing the gathers of the material together in predetermined relation to one another within said central zone and into a cross section having a vertical extent substantially greater than its thickness normal to the face of the garment, and said zones including also side zones containing material swung inward and upward from a region of the side edge at a distance below the top edge greater than the spacing of. the zone from the adjacent end of the top edge, and means at each of said side zones that permanently secure the gathers together in predetermined relation to one another and with the gathers of the material closely confined into a cross-section that has a vertical height substantially greater than the thickness of the cross sectionnormal to the face of the garment, the side zones of said garment including more material than the center zone and each of said side zones-being spaced a substantial distance back from the ends of the top edge so as to leave ties in which the gathers are free of one another.

4. A cover garment comprising a piece of cloth having top, bottom and side edges, said garment having ties at the opposite ends of its top, each of said ties being formed by displacing a side edge of the material inward and upward from a point substantially below the top of the material and into a gather zone, and fastening means permanently holding the gathers of material together in a predetermined relation in the gather zone at a region spaced inward from the end of the tie and only at that region so that the gathers in the tie beyond said region are free to fold, and shift with respect to one another, said fastening means including a strip extending down at least one side of the gather zone across the gathers, and said gather zone comprising the inward end of the tie.

WINIFRED SPEAR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,509,296 Hopewell Sept. 23, 1924; 1,729,817 Bullard Oct. 1, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 252,735 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1948 

